Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Retired generals met with top government officials here Tuesday to discuss the national situation after calls for action over poverty, natural disasters, corruption and transportation accidents.
Former vice president Try Sutrisno, former Army chief Tyasno Sudarto and former State Intelligence Coordinating Agency head Sudibyo attended the meeting, along with current Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S. and State Intelligence Agency chief Syamsir Siregar, all of whom are retired generals.
None were willing to discuss the details of the meeting, although Sudarto said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had asked the Retired Servicemen's Communication Forum to arrange the meeting.
Minister Widodo said the meeting was held in an attempt to improve communication between the government and the former servicemen and to hear what action they believed they government needed to take to improve conditions in the country. He denied that it had been held in response to Monday's rally in front of the State Palace calling for the President to step down.
"No, the meeting did not discuss the demand for the revocation of the people's mandate. We discussed many state issues," Widodo said, but did not elaborate.
The rally was led by a leader of the 1974 Malari protest, Hariman Siregar, who said that the people could revoke the mandate they gave to Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla in the 2004 presidential election.
A number of retired generals have been actively involved in a series of discourses criticizing the performance of the Yudhoyono administration, with Try Sutrisno taking a leading role in the movement.
Try and other state figures, including Amien Rais and former presidents Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri, have frequently expressed their concern over the situation in the country. They have called on the nation to get back to the original script of the 1945 Constitution, uphold the state ideology of Pancasila and maintain the unitary state of Indonesia.
Several retired generals have chosen to join political parties and pursue careers in politics.
After two years in power, Yudhoyono has been criticized for his failure to meet his 2004 election promises. Concluding its congress in Denpasar, Bali, last week, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) criticized Yudhoyono's government, pointing to legal uncertainty, high corruption levels in the bureaucracy and the worsening poverty and unemployment problems.
PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri said the President was too busy building his image.
Speaking to the media after the gathering, Tyasno said the retired generals were deeply concerned over the increasing rates of poverty and unemployment, the continuing natural disasters as well as sea and air accidents.
"The government should feed the people, generate new jobs and provide safe transportation in compensation for the taxes they have paid," he said.